Shooting threat forces Boston high school to cancel football game

Anonymous caller warns that a student was going to "shoot up a football game."

The threat of gun violence at Dedham High School (Massachusetts) caused officials to cancel the school's football season opener against local rival Dover Sherborn. / Dedham Football Instagram

Dedham High School (Massachusetts) was forced to cancel its season-opening football game with Dover Sherborn High, Friday, after the Boston area high school received a threat of a student planning to "shoot up a football game."

The threat came on Friday morning when an anonymous caller phoned the school, from a blocked number, and told police of a rumor that gun violence would take place at the game. No other details were provided by the caller.

According to a joint statement from Dedham Public Schools Superintendent Nan Murphy and Dedham Police Chief Mike D'Entrement the threat was taken seriously and an investigation was launched immediately. Shortly after 3 pm on Friday, officials announced that the game would go forward as scheduled, with increased police presence and security measures that would require all fans to enter through a single gate and no one would be allowed to enter the venue with any bags or containers.

“While we have no reason to believe there is an immediate threat, the district is proceeding with extreme caution,” said the initial statement. “It is critical that families and students in attendance remain vigilant.”

Those plans changed about an hour later when the school system shared a Facebook post stating that the game had been canceled.

Dover Sherborn officials made a similar announcement shortly thereafter and they also announced the cancelation of Saturday's junior varsity game between the two schools.

“While this threat remains unsubstantiated as of this post, it is a troubling reminder that, especially in the wake of yet another school shooting, our school community is unfortunately not immune,” wrote Dedham School Committee Vice Chair Stephen Acosta on another Facebook post.

Adding to the safety concerns is the fact that this threat came just days after four people were killed, including an assistant football coach, and nine others were injured in a mass shooting at Georgia's Apalachee High School. The alleged shooter was a 14-year old student who police said had been previously investigated for making online threats about a school shooting.

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